It is known that computer operating systems provide a user with an interface to permit the user to communicate directly with the operating system. The user interface is provided by the shell of the operating system and is typically presented in a graphical environment on the computer display. In the graphical environment, icons which represent items on the computer, such as, programs, files or other resources available to the user are often displayed on the computer screen. The term “item” will be used throughout to generally identify the various types of files, programs, or computer resources that may be displayed by the invention. The user may interface with and select a particular icon. The shell will then run the program, open the file, or initiate the operating system service represented by the icon.
It is also known that the user interface provided by the shell may be a menu driven environment in which the user makes selections from a task bar menu located on the computer display. Through navigation of the menu options, a user can locate the desired program, file or operating system service and can launch such item by selecting the menu entry which represents the item.
It is further known that the shell permits the user to sort and arrange the items stored on the computer. By interfacing with the menu bar and selecting from a list of menu entries a different display layout and a different sort order for the item, the user may change the presentation and order of the items on the computer display. By way of example and not limitation, the Windows® 2000 operating system published and sold by Microsoft Corporation provides a menu bar entry titled “View” which includes the following list of sub-menu entries that identify and represent other display layouts for the items presented on the computer display: thumbnails view, icon view (large or small), list view, and details view. In thumbnails view, each item is presented as a small preview representation of the item. In icon view, a miniature graphic representation of the item type and the basic information of the item are displayed. Specifically, a visual or icon representation of the item (either large or small) is displayed along with the name of the item. List view is similar to icon view but with the items displayed in a list format on the computer screen. In details view, an icon representation of the item is displayed along with several properties for the item, including its name, size, file type, author, and revision date.
While these known layouts provide a user with a useful way to review items, no one layout meets every user's needs. Thumbnails, list, and icon views, for example, provide very minimal information about the item making it difficult for the user to identify the item and its properties. Details view, on the other hand, displays numerous properties for the item, typically more information than is required, resulting in wasted space in the view. In addition, details view displays the same properties for each item regardless of the item type. For instance, in details view, the same properties would be displayed for a text file as a music file. Showing the author of the file may be pertinent for a text file but not for a music file. As a result, unimportant information is displayed.
Accordingly, there is still a need for a user interface display of items where only pertinent information about an item is presented to the user. In other words, there is a need for the display of items on the computer screen that strikes a balance between the thumbnails/icon view and the details view. The present invention strikes such a balance by providing a new user interface view that displays a graphical representation of the item along with the pertinent properties for the item, properties that are specific to that type of item. The details of this user interface display are discussed in detail below.
It is known in the art to provide on a user interface display a graphical representation of an item alongside a description of the item. For example, many Internet based retailers display a picture of the items for sale along with a description of the item. Amazon.com, for instance, an on-line bookseller, displays a graphical representation of a book along with the name of the book, the author, and the price. The name of the book usually has an HTML (hypertext markup language) link associated with it to connect the user with another web page on the World Wide Web where the user can order the book and arrange payment. In addition, there is usually an information link associated with the book that hyperlinks the user to another web page to learn more about the book.
These known Internet displays have drawbacks which the present invention overcomes. The known Internet displays are static in that the graphical representations of the item are scanned onto the computer display and thus do not change. In addition, the information about the item cannot change through user interface with the item. That is, the user cannot change the information to be displayed about the item. Moreover, the user cannot open the item without having to navigate through several screens or web pages.